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Richie Havens
Richie Havens had the honour to open the Woodstock Festival at about 5.00 pm (sourcesGerman Wikipedia, article Woodstock-Festival claim that it was exactly 5.07 pm). According to an interview on TVYahoo! Woodstock Project mailing list - Richie Havens interview there were originally four songs planned for him. But since the audience liked him and the organizers forced him to play longer (bands were stuck in the traffic jam) he was happy to perform more songs. He further claimed that he played every song he knew the next 2:45 hours but this is quite exaggerated since there were bands who also performed during daylight on this day. Sunset occured around 8:00 pmSunrisesunset.com. __TOC__ Musicians * Richie Havens - guitar, vocals * Daniel Ben Zebulon - percussion, conga * Paul "Deano" Williams - guitar and backing vocals Setlist # From the Prison # Get Together # From the Prison (reprise) # I'm a Stranger Here # High Flying Bird # I Can't Make It Anymore # With a Little Help from My Friends # Handsome Johnny # Strawberry Fields Forever > Hey Jude # Freedom (Motherless Child) Details Richie Havens has stated he was told to "kill time" on stage and has claimed (on more than one occasion) that he played a long time at Woodstock. At one point, he said that he played for three hours, and did every song he knew. This claim is impossible, given that most sources cite the start of the festival (when Richie got on stage) as around 5:00 pm. Had Havens played for three hours, that would have made it 8:00 when he left the stage. The band Sweetwater and Bert Sommer followed Richie, each playing about 45 minutes, and both playing before dark (photographic evidence shows this). He did improvise a lot. "Freedom" for instance, was created right on stage as an encore. "Get Together" was a very popular song by Chet Powers that spawned many covers in the late 1960s (originally recorded as "Let's Get Together" in 1964). Richie Havens played the Beatles songs late in his set, when he ran out of material, because he didn't seem to know the lyrics. On the other hand, he already hummed "With A Little Help from My Friends" as early as July, 1968. Setlist information is based on Michael Lang's book ''The Road to Woodstock''Michael Lang: The Road to Woodstock, 2009, ISBN 0061576557 (except for the first song). In the discussion threadYahoo! Woodstock Project mailing list - discussion thread about the setlist about Richie Haven's setlist is confirmed that the setlist is actually correct. Availability Other sources than the below mentioned official ones include unreleased film outtakes and audience recordings. Audio * 1970: Woodstock I * 1994: Woodstock - Three Days of Peace and Music * 2009: Woodstock: 40 Years On: Back to Yasgur's Farm Video * 1990: Woodstock: The Lost Performances * 1994: Woodstock Diaries Images Image:Richie Havens01.jpg|Richie Havens Image:Richie Havens02.jpg|Richie Havens Image:Richie Havens03.jpg|Paul Williams Image:Richie Havens04.jpg|Paul Williams Image:Richie Havens05.jpg|Richie Havens and band Image:Richie Havens06.jpg|Daniel Ben Zebulon Image:Richie Havens07.jpg|Richie Havens Image:Richie Havens08.jpg|Richie Havens and band Image:Richie Havens09.jpg|Richie Havens and band Image:Richie Havens10.jpg|Paul Williams and Richie Havens References Category:Artists